Just started watching this forumn. I dig it! I am so tired of the techno weenies. I have been riding a Slingshot Boom tube bike since the fall of 92. No pics right now, I am building a new house and it is packed away with the rest of my herd in sotorage.

Mine is the 93 Team Yellow version in a 17" long. I also have a mod that I have never seen. A Pro-Action downtube. I sold Slingshots back then and got to try this new deal. It really made the bike a blast on steep technical downhills.

Hello all. I used to ride a mid 90's slingshot but had to sell it due to being a broke college student a few years ago. I had also gotten out of riding but am now looking to start again. If anyone hears of a reasonably priced Slingshot frame/fork and drops me a line I would be eternally geatful. I also have a Slingshot BMX frame sitting awaiting a repaint/build-up at home that a friend gave to me when I used to work at Rock N' Road Cycles in Muskegon, MI. I'll post pictures the next time I'm home.

Hi Guys............Slingshot newbie

Just got this slingshot as a frame recently , always liked the look of em so I thought 'Why not'
The photo was taken last week hence no cables, but I have ridden it snice then and I
have to say...............its quite an experience and its gonna take some getting used to.

anyway here it is ,its a 1993 and its got a Suntour xc-comp/pro groupset

Gotta add my slingshot

Just got this slingshot as a frame recently , always liked the look of em so I thought 'Why not'
The photo was taken last week hence no cables, but I have ridden it snice then and I
have to say...............its quite an experience and its gonna take some getting used to.

anyway here it is ,its a 1993 and its got a Suntour xc-comp/pro groupset

So far so good?

They really are a fun bike. You get lots of attention on them, thats for sure!

OK, so how do these things ride? Are they laturality stiff? Rumpfy, whats the scoop?

I've had every bit of 6 or 7 different Slingshots over the years. They're a fun bike, and from what I've seen of your riding style, you'd probably like it actually. They're a good bike for a smoother rider, someone who keep the tires on the ground.

I'm down to just having the 92 team frame set up as an SS and the 88/89 which is awaiting a repaint.

You're more than welcome to ride my single speeded Slingshot if you want (next time we're in the same place).

I've had every bit of 6 or 7 different Slingshots over the years. They're a fun bike, and from what I've seen of your riding style, you'd probably like it actually. They're a good bike for a smoother rider, someone who keep the tires on the ground.

I'm down to just having the 92 team frame set up as an SS and the 88/89 which is awaiting a repaint.

You're more than welcome to ride my single speeded Slingshot if you want (next time we're in the same place).

Well, I just bought one off of EBay. I may have paid a little too much but didn't feel like waiting till the last minute. Got outbid in the last 7 seconds a few days ago on another. I do have a couple of questions though. First, is it possible to take the frame apart for shipping or are the boards bonded in and then bolted? Also, is a 96 suspension corrected. Looking at this tread there are some newer (mid 90's) with rigid forks that don't look to be suspension corrected. I am kind of hoping it isn't, I have been hanging on to a NOS Koski fork for probably 10 years and was hoping to use that. My last questions is what is the Pro-Action downtube that someone mentioned a few posts ago?? Thanks and I will post some pics when it is built.

Well, I just bought one off of EBay. I may have paid a little too much but didn't feel like waiting till the last minute. Got outbid in the last 7 seconds a few days ago on another. I do have a couple of questions though. First, is it possible to take the frame apart for shipping or are the boards bonded in and then bolted? Also, is a 96 suspension corrected. Looking at this tread there are some newer (mid 90's) with rigid forks that don't look to be suspension corrected. I am kind of hoping it isn't, I have been hanging on to a NOS Koski fork for probably 10 years and was hoping to use that. My last questions is what is the Pro-Action downtube that someone mentioned a few posts ago?? Thanks and I will post some pics when it is built.

I believe that the '96's were suspension adjusted. Mine was a '94 and I'm pretty sure that was the last year they were not. A friend had some problems with buying a rigid fork for a non-suspension adjusted frame (a '95 I believe) and it handling weird.

As far as the Pro Action downtube goes, it is a hollow aluminum tube with an elastomer on the end that fits over the cable. As it was explained to me, Slingshot had a expert/pro downhiller on the squad in the mid-90's (when I was still riding) and his only complaint about the Slingshot design was that during hard braking the frame would compress, thus shrinking the wheelbase. The Pro Action downtube fixed this by allowing the frame to swing out (during hard pedaling) but not to swing in (under hard braking). I think I still have one lying around somewhere, I never put it on because I never noticed that problem.

Oh yeah, I REALLY want to start riding again and REALLY love Slingshots (made in Michigan, whoop whoop!) so if anyone has a sling they're looking to get rid of please let me know. I also got my Slingshot BMX frame from my dad's house and will post pictures soon.

It's a new frame (the Farmboy) but a few retro parts: Regal seat, square taper BB and old Specialized StrongArm compact cranks, Sachs/Ritchey twist shifter (1x9).

It joins a 2004 Slingshot folding road bike (custom built for a mtb journalist to test: Dan Koeppel I think) in my current stable. My college friend/roommate was the Slingshot trials rider (Robert Lawson). The aluminum tube covering the cable on that bike was to prevent too much compression during some of the more extreme trials moves (during a big hop, or a front wheel landing probably) IIRC. They also offered it on some of the CX bikes from a few years ago. I believe there were two total 20" trials bikes built. Very cool.

I believe that the '96's were suspension adjusted. Mine was a '94 and I'm pretty sure that was the last year they were not. A friend had some problems with buying a rigid fork for a non-suspension adjusted frame (a '95 I believe) and it handling weird.

As far as the Pro Action downtube goes, it is a hollow aluminum tube with an elastomer on the end that fits over the cable. As it was explained to me, Slingshot had a expert/pro downhiller on the squad in the mid-90's (when I was still riding) and his only complaint about the Slingshot design was that during hard braking the frame would compress, thus shrinking the wheelbase. The Pro Action downtube fixed this by allowing the frame to swing out (during hard pedaling) but not to swing in (under hard braking). I think I still have one lying around somewhere, I never put it on because I never noticed that problem.

Oh yeah, I REALLY want to start riding again and REALLY love Slingshots (made in Michigan, whoop whoop!) so if anyone has a sling they're looking to get rid of please let me know. I also got my Slingshot BMX frame from my dad's house and will post pictures soon.

You are the ONLY other person that I know of that has the downtube! I am back up and running online wise and will try to get a pic FINALLY of my Sling'

Bob Lawson's Slingshot trials bike

Hi! I was wondering if anyone knows where or who bought the SLINGSHOT TRIALS bike that ROBERT (BOB) LAWSOM used, and that he sold on ebay. If anyone has any idea, please email me or send me a message. I would like to buy it back. Thanks!

for all of you who are wondering what's going on over at slingshot i would point you to the blog. they have a few photos of some bikes they are playing with. i rode the slinger with the lefty at the iceman cometh race this year and it was a blast, very fun. i have also thrown a leg over the 69er, also a great riding bike. www.slingshotbikes.blogspot.com

For all the Slingshot fans out there - check out this website. It's Mark Groendal's new bike company and still employing the same Sling-Power tech as the original Slingshot bikes. Personnally, I think Slingshot's new aluminum designs and stabs at "full suspension" bikes are asthetically hideous compared to the early-mid 90's frame design. These new frames are a little more appealing.

I know this isn't really vintage equipment, but the idea is nearly as old as mountain biking itself. Enjoy!

Does anyone know where to find (or has seen in person) a Titanium Slingshot?
I'd take a half or full Ti...I know they were made for a short while c. 93/94....I'd love to own one. Any leads or info would be great.

If I remember correctly, Scott Quiring used to fab for slingshot back in the day. He does some serious quality fabrication these days. You might want to contact him and ask if he'll do a custom for you. Good luck 'finding' one though, every sling owner I've ever known would sooner lose a nut before they sold their slingshot.

Here's a few shots of my farmboy-- I've had it for about 4 months now. It is pulling double duty as my commuter and I take it up to Marin as often as possible
Stripped the TT myself and had sycip powder coat the rear triangle. The fork is a Scott Quiring custom job.

with the fork that came with it (sibex- nice but too flexy for me)

mid-build

local playground shots, headlands and Mt. Tam (my wife is very happy that I got the farmboy- she now gets to ride my zaskar instead of her old peugot k-mart bike)

Circus problems

Well I finally rebuilt the old 92/93 Sling shot i bought from some bloke and found that the fiber plate is pritty much shot. The front and the back of the bike head in different directions like some kind of circus bike (bolts are tight).
Contacted the new Sling shot guys and they said that they were not doing any refurbs on old frames at all (with or without paint) but offered to sell me one of their new ones.

Well I finally rebuilt the old 92/93 Sling shot i bought from some bloke and found that the fiber plate is pritty much shot. The front and the back of the bike head in different directions like some kind of circus bike (bolts are tight).
Contacted the new Sling shot guys and they said that they were not doing any refurbs on old frames at all (with or without paint) but offered to sell me one of their new ones.

Anybody out there got any sugestions?

Yeah, you're pretty much SOL now. The new owners of the company aren't too cool IMO.

I have an older Sling as well thats a bit out of alignment...not much I can do about it.

Well I finally rebuilt the old 92/93 Sling shot i bought from some bloke and found that the fiber plate is pritty much shot. The front and the back of the bike head in different directions like some kind of circus bike (bolts are tight).
Contacted the new Sling shot guys and they said that they were not doing any refurbs on old frames at all (with or without paint) but offered to sell me one of their new ones.

Anybody out there got any sugestions?

Oh yea here are some smilies

I'd be willing to bet you could find out what those 3m fiber boards are 'really' used for- It just seems unlikely that 3m makes those boards just for slingshots. I'd bet that slingshot found them being used in some other application (like some kind of windsurfer fitting, or lawn furniture or something that is mass produced by the thousands) and modified it themselves. Getting a company like 3m to make a few hundred of these boards per year just seems very unlikely, it wouldn't be worth the effort.

You could try to find a big hunk of fiber plastic and shape it yourself with a belt sander or something. There just isn't a whole lot of engineering in that thing, it wouldn't be rocket surgery.

If it CAN be fixed, and if it was my bike - I know who I'd contact - Scott Quiring. Scott worked/raced at Slingshot back in the old days and probably knows as much about those frames as anybody. I think he even built some of the later US-made frames - so it's at least worth a call/email.

I'm restoring a 1990 Slingshot frame.
It has been repainted and now it is missing all the decals. I think i need one like the picures attached.
Anyone could help me taking a closeup picture of one of their bike, so I can reproduce it?

i have run a lefty on a slingshot. i had one on a 69er set up, the put one on the ripper and raced it at Iceman. then i jumped to the big wheeled farmboy and converted the lefty for that. to me it was the best of the freaks

Here it is mine!

Finally I set up this sling of 1990.
It is almost definitive, but the seat post is not the right one due it is a 26.8 and I need a 26.6 difficult to find that size.
The decals are missing,but thanks to Bigweel they will be back soon.
What do you think about it?

Finally I set up this sling of 1990.
It is almost definitive, but the seat post is not the right one due it is a 26.8 and I need a 26.6 difficult to find that size.
The decals are missing,but thanks to Bigweel they will be back soon.
What do you think about it?

Niiice!

Great looking Slingshot. I've got one just like it I need to restore....though I think that frame is an 88 or 89 I'm pretty sure.

Great looking Slingshot. I've got one just like it I need to restore....though I think that frame is an 88 or 89 I'm pretty sure.

Bigwheel would know.

Post some pictures!
I'm still don't know exactly the year.
Firstflight has one of 1990 similar but the wire is connected to the front head tube.
In Italy came out a bike test of this exact frame in 1991....i'm sure that it is earlier than 1991. :-)
Bigwheel? :-)

Post some pictures!
I'm still don't know exactly the year.
Firstflight has one of 1990 similar but the wire is connected to the front head tube.
In Italy came out a bike test of this exact frame in 1991....i'm sure that it is earlier than 1991. :-)
Bigwheel? :-)

It's pretty worked over right now...but I'll have some paint on it soon.
I also think its a tiny bit crooked.

Nice!!

Before repaint it, could you take an HD picture of the true temper tubing label and the front tube label?
I can make an HD scan of decals and send them to you, so you can reproduce them as originals. What do you think?

Before repaint it, could you take an HD picture of the true temper tubing label and the front tube label?
I can make an HD scan of decals and send them to you, so you can reproduce them as originals. What do you think?

Possible 3M material solution...

For many years I worked with vibrating materials handling equipment which used little 3M spring packs. These were similar, if not the same, as your Slingshot springs.
I am currently contracting for this same company during my University holidays (so I can afford to eat...).
I will look into who the suppliers of the springs are. You may have to make the springs yourself from raw blanks or perhaps one of the suppliers can take a sample spring and make a few for you (group buy etc).
I don't want to get your hopes up too high, but the new Slingshot company DON'T have a monoploy on that 3M leaf spring material.

I don't own a slingshot but I think it stinks that they refuse to honour service of their old products or instead shaft current owners with stupid prices.

"well if you love it that much i'm sure you can sell a kidney and buy a new one from us".

Particularly when they are a niche "cult" type product that i'm sure benefits from word-of-mouth by passionate current owners.

Here is a link to show what i'm talking about with the 3M leaf springs:http://www.fmctechnologies.com/uploa...ghtfeeders.pdf
Look at the pictures of these blue machines. See the little fibre springs between the base and the pan? They come in all sizes. I'm sure you could modify one to suit or maybe even find one of the right section size - just cut and drill.

Also talk to people who worked with the old Slingshot mob and see if they can tell you what a spring changeout involved. Find out any info you can.

Can anyone give some dimensions of their spring, doesn't need to be too accurate for now.

For many years I worked with vibrating materials handling equipment which used little 3M spring packs. These were similar, if not the same, as your Slingshot springs.
I am currently contracting for this same company during my University holidays (so I can afford to eat...).
I will look into who the suppliers of the springs are. You may have to make the springs yourself from raw blanks or perhaps one of the suppliers can take a sample spring and make a few for you (group buy etc).
I don't want to get your hopes up too high, but the new Slingshot company DON'T have a monoploy on that 3M leaf spring material.

I don't own a slingshot but I think it stinks that they refuse to honour service of their old products or instead shaft current owners with stupid prices.

"well if you love it that much i'm sure you can sell a kidney and buy a new one from us".

Particularly when they are a niche "cult" type product that i'm sure benefits from word-of-mouth by passionate current owners.

Here is a link to show what i'm talking about with the 3M leaf springs:http://www.fmctechnologies.com/uploa...ghtfeeders.pdf
Look at the pictures of these blue machines. See the little fibre springs between the base and the pan? They come in all sizes. I'm sure you could modify one to suit or maybe even find one of the right section size - just cut and drill.

Also talk to people who worked with the old Slingshot mob and see if they can tell you what a spring changeout involved. Find out any info you can.

Can anyone give some dimensions of their spring, doesn't need to be too accurate for now.

Remove the bolt (pictured just behind the fibreboard), separate the shift and brake cables (all use threaded cable splitters), remove the cable from the BB junction. The Top tube/upper seat tube (you can see the larger diameter tubing which slides over the smaller dia. lower seat tube) slides up, and bingo - two pieces.

Some history on this particular bike:

I bought it as a demo from Slingshot back in maybe 2004? Supposedly this frame was built up and sent out to Dan "Hug the Bunny" Koeppel (from Mountain Bike Mag) to review. He rode it a few times (???) and it got sent back to Slingshot, then to me. For the longest time I looked for his writeup featuring this bike, but never saw anything. Oh well.

I was told when I got it that it was not stock, in that it used the lighter "Ultimate" tubeset, along with the folding mechanism. Who knows if this is true.?!? When I unpacked it and put it together it weighted about 19lbs (full DA 10sp, including wheels). Not bad considering the frame probably weighs around 4.5 lbs.

I was going to ship the bike all over (I travel for work) so I took a lot of the blingy DA stuff (read: high resale value) off and threw some Ultegra 9 shifters and a Ritchey 50/36 WCS Compact crank on, along with some Colorado Cyclist built DA7700/Open Pro wheels and that's how it sits today.

OK, back to the dirty bikes, sorry to bore you all with my silly little road bike.

Hi Guys.
Meant to get back to let you know what I did with my split fiber-board Slingshot.
Basically took your advise (thank you) and contacted Mark Groendal and Scott Quiring.
Mark seriously looked into the problem and decided that he was unable to perform the replacement of the fiber-boards.
Scott said that he had some boards in his possessiion and that he could do the necessary repair. So I shipped my frame to him and it is still there. He is in contact but has his own business building bikes....so not yet done the repair.

I think I can help you find a fibre board?

yeah it just seems really unikely that 3m is just producing these flex boards just for slingshots. How many do they mak a year? 200? 500?

I bet Scott Quiring would know what they <i>really</i> are.

Hi Finger51 and all you fellow "old school" slingshot riders over there in USA. I have recently been looking into replacing the fiber board on my 94 slingshot as I have had it resprayed red and I am re-building it to start riding after a 7 year break (injuries, work, relocating etc) Here is a link to 3m scotchply in my local city Brisbane.

As you can see from the website the fiber board can be machined. I still have the last board so I plan to take the bike frame and board to them, get a second board and hopefully enquire about which is the correct epoxy. I spoke to the local branch of the company and they were very confident they could help me. This all came about because I was able to call 3m in Sydney and I just kept asking until someone knew what I was on about. The lady @ 3m who helped me actually had seen the bike before!

I have also replaced my bolts and nylocs no problem, just went to a specialist bolt store.

Lastly I needed to replace the cable as it had been frayed from years of riding and rubbing on the bottle cage (extender/double adapter) so I went to a chandlery (sailing stuff) and had them produce an exact copy of the cable with the thread @ one end and the pin at the other. The only problem was the new pin (now metric, not imperial) was a touch too big so I took the bike back to the local frame maker who re-drilled the hole, touched up the paint and fitted the pin.

Happy days - I am now looking for a good group set - I am thinking Sram?

Hi Finger51 and all you fellow "old school" slingshot riders over there in USA. I have recently been looking into replacing the fiber board on my 94 slingshot as I have had it resprayed red and I am re-building it to start riding after a 7 year break (injuries, work, relocating etc) Here is a link to 3m scotchply in my local city Brisbane.

As you can see from the website the fiber board can be machined. I still have the last board so I plan to take the bike frame and board to them, get a second board and hopefully enquire about which is the correct epoxy. I spoke to the local branch of the company and they were very confident they could help me. This all came about because I was able to call 3m in Sydney and I just kept asking until someone knew what I was on about. The lady @ 3m who helped me actually had seen the bike before!

I have also replaced my bolts and nylocs no problem, just went to a specialist bolt store.

Lastly I needed to replace the cable as it had been frayed from years of riding and rubbing on the bottle cage (extender/double adapter) so I went to a chandlery (sailing stuff) and had them produce an exact copy of the cable with the thread @ one end and the pin at the other. The only problem was the new pin (now metric, not imperial) was a touch too big so I took the bike back to the local frame maker who re-drilled the hole, touched up the paint and fitted the pin.

Happy days - I am now looking for a good group set - I am thinking Sram?

Wow!
Crazy research and effort to get the Slinger back up and running again! Nice.

Hi Finger51 and all you fellow "old school" slingshot riders over there in USA. I have recently been looking into replacing the fiber board on my 94 slingshot as I have had it resprayed red and I am re-building it to start riding after a 7 year break (injuries, work, relocating etc) Here is a link to 3m scotchply in my local city Brisbane.

As you can see from the website the fiber board can be machined. I still have the last board so I plan to take the bike frame and board to them, get a second board and hopefully enquire about which is the correct epoxy. I spoke to the local branch of the company and they were very confident they could help me. This all came about because I was able to call 3m in Sydney and I just kept asking until someone knew what I was on about. The lady @ 3m who helped me actually had seen the bike before!

I have also replaced my bolts and nylocs no problem, just went to a specialist bolt store.

Lastly I needed to replace the cable as it had been frayed from years of riding and rubbing on the bottle cage (extender/double adapter) so I went to a chandlery (sailing stuff) and had them produce an exact copy of the cable with the thread @ one end and the pin at the other. The only problem was the new pin (now metric, not imperial) was a touch too big so I took the bike back to the local frame maker who re-drilled the hole, touched up the paint and fitted the pin.

Happy days - I am now looking for a good group set - I am thinking Sram?

Hey Felixe~

Yeah, I have to concur with Rumpfy- nice job! Great thinking going to a chandlery for the cable too. I never would have thought of that.
Looking forward to seeing some pics. Enjoy your ride!

Hi!
Here it is finished and ready to go. I got the decals from Rhinos-bike-orama of ebay.

The frame is the original 1993 model - resprayed (again) red.
The cable has been replaced - see previous posts.
The hinge has been replaced - see previous posts.
The bolts have been replaced.
The drivetrain is Sram cassette with X9 rear and XGen front derailleurs
The crankset and BB are FSA Afterburners.
The pedals are Crank bro's Candy C's
The rear hub is a carbon fibre Suzee with Tioga double eyeletted rim, I had a Suzee hub on the front but as it was disk ready I had to swap it out for a non disk Deore LX so it did not rub on the fork stanchion.
The brakes are Avid V brakes and levers.
The seatpost is Cane creek thudbuster which I can swap for my control tech.
The Stem and bars are my old CODA setup from 1998 with the aheadset converter for threaded steerers.
The headset is a shimano 105.
The shifters are SRAM XO Twist shifters.
The forks are re-commisioned RST Mozo Pro 4.5 inches of travel with coil springs.

What size was that advertised at the swap as? I thought I remember seeing the card say 14 or 15 inch with a TT measurement? With the headtube gusset and the extended seat tube that is more likely a 19"

14" Top tube

Slingshot standardized the top tube on all their frames to fourteen inches cc starting in 1993. Scotty's is actually a 20". the seat tube mast and head tube grow as the size increases while the TT stays at fourteen inches.

Slingshot standardized the top tube on all their frames to fourteen inches cc starting in 1993. Scotty's is actually a 20". the seat tube mast and head tube grow as the size increases while the TT stays at fourteen inches.

Re-read what you typed................you said it backasswards. All rear triangle/SEATTUBE junctions were 14" BUT the TOP TUBES grew according to size. The amount above the seat tube junction and above the toptube at the head tube junction grew up as well.

Re-read what you typed................you said it backasswards. All rear triangle/SEATTUBE junctions were 14" BUT the TOP TUBES grew according to size. The amount above the seat tube junction and above the toptube at the head tube junction grew up as well.

Thank you for clearing that up, my bad. To anyone who's head is spinning from the time change and my dyslexia, my deepest apologies. surlytman is right.

So that makes mine about 2.5 inches too big. I lowered the seatpost as you can see in the pic, but it did feel kind of long. Now that I know what size it is, I will not be able to get over the mental block.

So that makes mine about 2.5 inches too big. I lowered the seatpost as you can see in the pic, but it did feel kind of long. Now that I know what size it is, I will not be able to get over the mental block.

Depends, with a shorter more modern stem it might feel fine. I am riding larger frames than I did years ago but have them setup with 70-90 MM stems. modern lower standovers help this, the Sling certianly predated the lower toptubes in some ways.

So that makes mine about 2.5 inches too big. I lowered the seatpost as you can see in the pic, but it did feel kind of long. Now that I know what size it is, I will not be able to get over the mental block.

Can anyone help me?
Just been given a Slongshot frame,complete with forks, seatpost and ti bb. Now the person who that donated the frame to me didnt seem to know very much about it. I think its one of the tri frames in the same yellow as the bike in the pic above. But im unsure on what size wheels the bike should be running, and what drop brakes they run i.e standard road drop or long drop. thanks for any help!

Can anyone help me?
Just been given a Slongshot frame,complete with forks, seatpost and ti bb. Now the person who that donated the frame to me didnt seem to know very much about it. I think its one of the tri frames in the same yellow as the bike in the pic above. But im unsure on what size wheels the bike should be running, and what drop brakes they run i.e standard road drop or long drop. thanks for any help!

Welcome to VRC! The best way for people to help you on this forum is to post a picture of the subject in question and the serial number on the bottom bracket.

I want to know the geometry of my head tube and seat tube, how do I calculate this on my 1992 slingshot?
Alternatively does someone have a back issue of a mag which reviews the bike stating these specs?

Back in the early 90s I lined up at the start of a race on my Cannondale that had a 24" rear wheel next to a slingshot rider. He looked over at me and said "Are you going to race THAT". I told him that I was going to ride up next to him on a slow climb with a pair of wire cutters and PING his race would be over. He looked at me like a piece of dirt then the gun went off. As it turns out he won the class and I was lucky to survive it. I've wanted a slingshot ever since.
One thing though. If you bury the front wheel into something does the bike fold up. Cables are good in tension but not in compression.

I want to know the geometry of my head tube and seat tube, how do I calculate this on my 1992 slingshot?
Alternatively does someone have a back issue of a mag which reviews the bike stating these specs?

Hmm, don't know how I missed this thread for all these years.
Here are some pics of my '93, now a single speed. Got it after I cracked the seat tube on my '91 - it had the old block lettering and I had transposed the "I" and "O" in SLINGSHOT
Spec isn't too exciting;
Mag 21's, custom tuned by Paul Turner at the '94 World Cup in Vernon BC
Pulstar USA made front hub with oversize axle and Ti spokes
XT caged pedals, circa 1986
Raceface 180mm Turbines - the first year they were cold forged
rear XT hub with RM20 rim - 1986
Machine tech rear canti, 1st gen XTR canti at the rear
misc other stuff from the junk box...

Winter has decided to show its face, so it might be awhile until I can properly take this out to shred. For now, it'll look pretty in the corner of my garage. Or just about anywhere for that matter :wink:

Winter has decided to show its face, so it might be awhile until I can properly take this out to shred. For now, it'll look pretty in the corner of my garage. Or just about anywhere for that matter :wink:

Well...I rode it rigid first, like most say to do.. I was expecting [hoping] to have it ride all wacked out, rear end swaying like an open gate in the wind, etc. But it sadly felt like a solid hardtail. I first noticed the rear end movement in the rough stuff, when I stayed seated. I honestly only rode it once for an hour. She'll get a proper thrashing soon....

Professing ignorance as I haven't a lot of saddle time on one, but isn't that way they are supposed to be?

Yes. Most people on first glance think it's going to feel like one of those 'inch worm' toys the little tykes would ride. They are then surprised to find out that the slingshot 'feel' is much more subtle.
If I had to distill the feel of a slignshot ride down to a couple of words it would be 'supple hardtail'
I only feel the slingy-ness while hammering out of the saddle. Sometimes in a fast steady turn I can feel the bike 'spread out' and re-coil.